Set in e years before Iran's 1979 revolution, Makhmalbaf's The Boycott is the story of a young anti-Shah activist who forsakes his family for the cause of leftist politics. His arrest by the Shah's secret police imposes great hardship on his wife, and his new acquaintance with Muslim opponents of the regime eventually leads him to rethink his ideology. "Makhmalbaf's political aim of attacking a soulless, atheistic left is uppermost in the story" (Deborah Young, International Film Guide). The director's follow-up film was The Peddler, which marked a creative turning point in his career, and proved to be his international breakthrough.